Shampoo compositions for use on fabric materials such as carpets and upholstery have existed for a number of years. These types of products are used on fabrics that are large in size or fixed in place on furniture and thus cannot be easily removed from their current location for cleaning. In the case of carpets and rugs, these fabrics tend to receive high foot traffic and may get dirty rather quickly. Because of their size or location, such fabrics are not cleaned very often and thus it is beneficial to provide such fabrics with soil repellent treatments. Unlike articles of clothing that can be laundered in a clothes washing machine, the surfactants used to clean such fabrics cannot readily be rinsed from the fabric with water since the carpet or upholstery is fixed in place. Therefore there has been a constant desire to provide fabric cleaning compositions that can remove soil from carpets or upholstery with a minimum amount of water to speed drying of the fabric being cleaned while removing as much of the surfactants as possible since they tend to attract soil. Excess water can also cause shrinkage and warping of carpeting and may also promote mold growth. It is further desirable to have the cleaning composition impart anti-soiling properties to the fabric being cleaned to increase the time span between cleanings. Conditioning of the fabrics as a part of the cleaning process is also desirable.
Anti-soiling or soil repellency is described as the ability of a fabric such as a carpet to resist subsequent resoiling as a result of normal use such as foot traffic on carpets and ordinary use of furniture. It is a rough measure of the attraction or repulsion power of the products used to clean the fabric. Most carpeting and, often fabric furniture upholstery, is treated with a soil-resisting layer during the manufacture of the fabric or shortly before it is provided to the consumer. Examples of such treatments are the TEFLON.RTM. carpet treatment from E. I. Du Pont De Nemours & Company of Wilmington, Del., U.S.A. that is used in carpeting bearing the STAINMASTER.RTM. trademark and the SCOTCHGARD.RTM. products from 3M Company of St. Paul, Minn., U.S.A. which are used on both carpeting and fabric upholstery. Although these products render the fabric resistant to soiling, it is observed in many cases that the subsequent application of a shampoo fabric cleaning composition actively promotes the subsequent rate of resoiling of the cleaned fabric.
A number of attempts to provide shampoo fabric cleaning compositions have been made. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,723,323 and 3,723,358 to Morgan et al. each describe aqueous fabric treating shampoo compositions containing anionic or nonionic surfactants as cleansing agents and neutralized polymers of acrylic or methacrylic acid with styrene or other unsaturated monomers such as alkyl acrylates and methacrylates. The polymer is said to impart anti-soiling properties to fabrics cleaned with the compositions. The composition is scrubbed into the fabric, allowed to dry, and then vacuumed away with the soil because the composition gets brittle and flakes away from the fabric fibres along with the soil upon drying. U.S. Pat. No. 4,013,595 to Podella et al. teaches non-flammable aqueous aerosol rug cleaners using hydrocarbon propellants. They possess reduced flammability due to the presence of at least 0.3% lauryl alcohol in combination with 0.3-10% of an alkali metal lauryl sulfate salt as at least one of the surfactants. The Podella et al. compositions also contain polymers of the type taught in the Morgan et al. Patents above.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,304,610 to Weisensel teaches a carpet cleaning method for use with extraction machinery to clean carpets that contain high foaming anionic surfactants. The aqueous liquid or dry powder composition contains a cationic surfactant that reacts with and suppresses foaming of the anionic surfactant in the carpet, a nonionic surfactant as a primary cleaning agent, builders, fillers and chelating agents, and optionally, optical brighteners, dyes and perfumes.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,734,686 to Douglas teaches a carpet cleaning shampoo composition for carpets and pile fabrics which is said to enhance the abrasion resistance and antistatic properties of the treated carpet or pile fabric. This benefit comes from the presence of an aqueous emulsion of oxygen-free polyethylene of particle size 0.02 to 0.5 microns and average molecular weight of 7,000-40,000 where at least 30% of the particles are covered with an emulsifier composition. The composition is said to possess increased foaming action and less force is needed to apply the shampoo to the carpet.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,073,442 to Knowlton et al. teaches a method of enhancing the soil resistance and stain resistance of polyamide and wool fabrics by treating them with a solution containing (1) the condensation product of formaldehyde with bis(hydroxyphenyl)sulfone, phenylsulfonic acid, dihydroxy(diphenyl)sulfone or benzenesulfonic acid; (2) a fluorochemical and (3) an acrylic polymer or copolymer. The compositions may also contain modified wax compositions such as paraffinic wax emulsions, microcrystalline wax emulsions or metalized wax emulsions. Acrylic polymers can be added to the compositions to reduce the discoloring effect of the phenolic resin on the fabric as well as to give the fabric a softer hand. The fluorochemical is said to improve the water and oil repellency of the treated fabric and also improves antisoiling properties. Knowlton et al. generally teach that silicones, fluorocarbons, waxes, acrylic polymers and combinations thereof have been used in repellent and antisoil finishes, but offer little or no protection against warm to hot liquid spills. This composition is primarily used as a treatment that is separate from normal cleaning operations.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,799 to Petroff teaches synergistic surfactant compositions that are a combination of alkylbenzenesulfonate anionic surfactants and at least one organic zwitterionic functional silicone surfactant such as a silicone sulfobetaine surfactant. The latter is a trimethylsiloxy-endblocked polydiorganosiloxane composed of sulfobetaine(methyl)siloxy units and, optionally, dimethylsiloxy units. These compositions can be used in dishwashing detergents, liquid and powdered detergents and cleaners. Other examples of silicone polymers containing betaine-functional groups can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,609,750 and 4,654,161 to Kollmeier et al. These silicone polymers are said to be useful for cosmetic preparations, especially hair care products such as hair conditioners.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,269,739 to Grejsner teaches an agent for treating and cleaning records and similar objects that contains, in dissolved or emulsified form, from 0.001-1.2% of a natural or synthetic wax or wax-like substance, from 0.001-2.5% of a fluid silicone oil with lubricating activity, 0.001-2.5% of a surface-active polysiloxane copolymer, 0.001-1.2% of a fluorinated organic surfactant and 0.001-2.5% of a nonionic surfactant. It is used to clean and form an antistatic and lubricating coating on records and plastic articles such as photographic articles, optical lenses and television screens. All stated components are required and act synergistically. Nothing is taught concerning the use of such compositions in conjunction with cleaning fabrics.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,780,100 to Moll teaches a foaming aqueous aerosol fabric cleaning composition which has foaming surfactants, solvents, propellants, builders and water. The foam is said to enter the fabric pile and brings dirt up to the surface as a second foam is formed when the solvent evaporates. The only requirement for surfactants is that they form a foam and can include organosilicones. Amphoteric surfactants such as betaines can be used. Nothing is taught concerning the addition of polymer additives or waxes to these cleaning compositions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,595 to Malik et al. teaches a carpet shampoo or upholstery cleaning composition containing a glycoside surfactant, a normally solid, water soluble or water dispersible polymer component and water. The composition is applied to a carpet, allowed to dry to form a non-tacky, friable film or polymeric residue and is then vacuumed away to remove the soil-containing residue. The polymers used can be butyl acrylate/styrene (optional)/methyl methacrylate/methacrylic, acrylic, and/or itaconic acid copolymers. Optionally, antistatic agents, foam builders and stabilizers such as amine oxides and amphoteric cycloimidines or imidazolines, optical brighteners, perfumes and the like can also be included.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,335,086 to Morris teaches soil anti-redeposition additives to prevent the redeposition of soil onto fabrics, clothes and the like while washing, shampooing, laundering and dry cleaning such articles. The additives are composed of a synergistic combination of carboxymethyl cellulose and a hydrolyzed polymer having a substantially linear hydrocarbon chain and both hydroxyl and carboxyl groups along the chain. These are then added to liquid or powdered detergent compositions to improve the anti-redeposition properties of the detergents.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,992 to Troger et al. teaches an aerosol cleaning agent for textile surfaces which contains plasticized urea-formaldehyde resin foam particles (0.005-0.120 mm), propellant, antisettling agent, suspending agent, liquid and sodium aluminum silicate particles. A silicone defoamer may be included to promote the removal of soap residue. No moisture-retaining cationic antistatic agents are said to be needed. The product is applied to textile upholstery, allowed to dry and vacuumed away from the fabric. The cleaning agent is the sodium aluminum silicate particles.
The following further represent the state of the art. Additional aqueous liquid carpet and fabric cleaners are taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,630,919 to Sheaffer et al.; 3,639,290 to Fearnley et al.; 3,736,259 to Buck et al.; and 3,919,101 to Anstett et al. A surfactant-free carpet cleaning and soil repellent composition is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,035,148 to Metzger et al. Dry powder carpet cleaners are taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,659,494 to Soldanski et al. and 4,566,980 to Smith. Treatment compositions for textiles based upon fluorochemical compounds are taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,987,227 to Schultz and 4,043,923 to Loudas. Acrylic polymers for use in carpet shampoo compositions are taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,203,859 to Kirn et al. Antisoiling and anti-redeposition polymer latices for use in conjunction with the aqueous washing of textile articles are taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,588 to Berrod et al. Wax-containing compositions for use in conjunction with detergents for textiles are taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,447,349 to Tai; 4,451,387 to Tai; and 4,599,189 to Wuhrmann et al.